Erdinç Tekir (born November 17, 1966) is a Turkish member of the IHH of Abkhaz origin."Avrasya Feribotunu Kaçıran Tekir'den İlginç Açıklamalar" (Interview by Mustafa Uzun)
, ''Anadolu'da Vakit'', December 11, 2009 He was previously convicted for his participation at the Black Sea hostage crisis. He worked for the IHH since he was released from prison and joined the

Gaza Flotilla The Gaza Freedom Flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, with the intention of breakin ...

Georgian–Abkhazian and Russian-Chechen conflicts

As a member of an Islamic youth organization named Milli Gençlik Vakfı, Tekir joined the group of

Shamil Basayev Shamil Salmanovich Basayev ( ce, Салман ВоӀ Шамиль ; russian: Шамиль Салманович Басаев; 14 January 1965 – 10 July 2006), also known by his kunya "Abu Idris", was a senior military commander in the Cheche ...

in the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict with code name Hadjarat, in the summer of 1992. He wanted to go to Chechnya in 1994 to participate in the

Chechen War Chechen War may refer to: * Chechen–Russian conflict, 1785–2017 * Caucasian War, 1817–1864 * Murid War, 1829–1859, a.k.a. Russian Conquest of Chechnya and Dagestan * 1940–44 insurgency in Chechnya * First Chechen War The First Chec ...

, when he was a sergeant in the Abkhazian Army. Since he could not pass to Chechenya from Abkhazia, he used the way from

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

to Chechnya. He did not manage to go to Chechnya, as he was handed over to Russians and detained in a prison. However, he saved him from the prison and returned to Turkey where he participated in hijacking the ferryboat MV ''Avrasya'' in 1996. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in Turkey,"Activist on ‘Mavi Marmara’ Black Sea ferry hijacker,"
Herb Keinon, August 24, 2010, Jerusalem Post. but was released after serving three and a half years.

As an IHH member

After being released from prison, Tekir joined İHH for its released prisoner quota and worked for several İHH campaigns, first as a volunteer, and then as an İHH employee. He was one of the

İHH IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (Turkish: İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı; full Turkish name: İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı, in English: The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief) or İHH is a co ...

members aboard the ship during the

Gaza flotilla raid The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six civilian ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine activists and no Israelis were killed on one ship duri ...

."Turkish Press Scan for Aug. 20, Two Ships, Same Activist,"
August 20, 2010, Hürriyet. He was wounded by the IDF boarding party.Fatma Aksu
"Bizler iyilik korsanıydık"
''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'', August 21, 2010. Tekir told Hürriyet that the group that hijacked the ferryboat and the Israelis who boarded the ''Mavi Marmara'' were both pirates, but they were the pirates of goodness, whereas Israel was cruel. A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Tekir's previous conviction for the hijacking, alleging "This shows what kind of people were on the ship."" Flotilla Member Participated In Past Terror Attacks,"
Elad Benari, August 31, 2010, Israel National News.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tekir, Erdinc 1966 births Living people Hijackers Abkhazian military personnel Turkish people of Abkhazian descent Gaza flotilla raid Turkish people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of Russia Prisoners and detainees of Turkey